Batman has many wonderful toys. To aid in his obsessive and never-ending war on crime he has gadgets of all shapes and sizes. But his greatest weapon cannot be found hanging in the Batcave or in a compartment of his utility belt. No, Batman’s greatest weapon is his mind.

The only way to truly defeat Batman is to break his mind.

I love stories where the villain goes after Batman’s mind. He’s crazy enough as it is, so pushing him over the edge into madness usually isn’t that difficult. I remember fondly the story that ran in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight in which Batman got addicted to the Venom drug. Sure, the addiction was partly physical, but when I close my eyes I can still picture the pages where Alfred had to lock Bruce up in the Batcave until he defeated his mental addiction. And the of course, there was the Black Glove storyline that Grant Morrison wrote a few years ago in which a shadowy group of baddies banded together to attack Batman mentally.

And that leads us to The Court of Owls and the current predicament that Batman finds himself in. You might recall in the last issue that in the course of his investigating this mysterious Court of Owls, Batman was captured and awoke to find himself in a giant maze or, as the creepily owl masked people on the giant video screen called it, The Labyrinth. As Batman #5 opens up it’s been 8 days since that moment and no one in Gotham City has seen hide nor hair of its Caped Crusader. Where has he been? What has he been up to?

Going crazy in The Labyrinth, that’s what.

For 8 days Batman has been trapped in a David Lynch fever dream. He’s in a maze. No food. The only water is drugged. There are periods of disorienting light and deep darkness. Every time he turns a corner he finds himself in a room with strange objects and creepy photographs. Mysterious people in creepy masks taunt him. And then just when he things he has everything sussed out and that he has gained an upper hand on The Court of Owls, he ends up right back where he started. (It is a maze, after all.)

Oh, and The Court of Owls’ badass enforcer, The Talon, is in there with him and he’s feeling quite stabby.

But The Talon’s not the only one in there with Batman. Oh no. We’re in there with him too.

I really appreciate when comic books take advantage of the medium and do things you can’t do anywhere else. In Batman #5, as Batman spirals deeper into madness, so too does the artwork begin to spiral, and thus the act of reading the book becomes one of actual creating a physical spiral in the real world. As Batman makes his way through the maze the artwork starts in the standard portrait view. And then it switches to landscape view and you have to rotate the book 90s degrees. And then after a few pages you have to rotate the book 90 degrees again when the art switches to an upside down portrait view before it slams back around 180 degrees as the story leaves The Labyrinth. The very act of reading the book is to physically create Batman’s spiral into madness. It’s almost as if you are watching him circle the drain. It was a bold and exciting move to try something that unusual in comic books, which is a medium that thrives upon the familiar. I applaud Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo for pitching the idea and DC editorial for giving it a chance. It paid off wonderfully.

And speaking of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, this creative team continues to fire on all cylinders. They are digging deep into what makes Batman who he is and turning that against him in a compelling way that is producing one of the most fun superhero books out there right now.

We’ve talked to Scott Snyder a lot over the last year and he has been extremely excited about getting to tell this story. The idea that there is a secret part of Gotham City that has kept itself hidden from Batman for all these years (although not as long as you might think since it’s the New 52), and that one of Batman’s greatest strengths–his confidence in his mastery of Gotham City–might actually end up his greatest liability, is very interesting. It takes Batman out of his comfort zone and whenever you take a protagonist out of their comfort zone, especially an overly confident protagonist, then you usually end up with great stories.

Greg Capullo continues to shine and in this issue, as great as the story is, it’s all about the art. Along with inker Jonathan Glapion, colorist… um… FCO, and letterer Richard Starkings, Capullo has crafted a descent into madness without sacrificing his trademark dynamic flare. Pages are filled with small overlapping panels. Imagery is repeated. Colors are washed out. Images are blurry. Everything here on the page is in service to the story and the story is harrowing. It’s disconcerting to see Batman–his cowl ripped, his face stubbled, his costume grimy–flat on his stomach and desperately pawing at a crack in the floor because he thinks it might hold a clue.

Look, it’s Batman we’re talking about so we know that, in the end, he’s going to find is way out of this and defeat The Court of Owls. (Probably.) Elements of the story might be familiar but it’s the journey from hubris to rock bottom to redemption and victory that this is all about. In comics, as in any other storytelling medium, in the end it all comes down to the story being told. How successful is the execution? How compelling is the plot and the characters? Right now the story that Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are telling in Batman is resulting in one of the best comic books on the stands right now, bar none.

Conor KilpatrickSee you next month. Same Bat-time. Same Bat-channel.
conor@ifanboy.com

Comments

There was so much about this issue that I liked, so that even if the end of the arc tanks (which I highly doubt it will), I’d still call it a success. I love things that play with the medium (like the “Choose Your Own Adventure” issue of The Unwritten), and I loved everything in this, from Harvey Bullock pulling a reverse Batman to start it all off to Damian at the end, I really, REALLY can’t wait for the next issue.

I just finished reading this issue and immediately knew it would be the pick of the week.

I only have one friend that really reads comics with any regularity, and he’s my room mate. So, on Wednesdays when I get home from work around 4 in the morning, I take the comics I know he’ll like and slide them under his door, organized to which I think he should read first. This will be on top with a sticky note with one word stuck to the front.

Amen, I loved this issue. I thought it was a really cool how Batmans mask was all fucked up and his one eye was red; that imagery along with his cape seemingly growing, shrinking, and getting all tattered really added to the increasing levels of madness that Bruce was experiencing. I agree about the interactive nature of the pages spinning, that was a clever way of conveying the overall frantic mood.
Narratively speaking this was pretty different from the last 4 issues also. The pages were filled with the inner ramblings of Batman, it was a sort of stream-of-conscious style; and it was the art that really progressed the story. I would have been shocked if this wasn’t the POW, great pick Connor.

Agree wholeheartedly with this choice. However, Connor, I have to point out that the LOTDK series you refer to “Venom”, which was written by Dennis O’Neil and is one of the great Batman stories IMHO, did not, in fact involve Bane.

It introduced the idea of Santa Prisca (actually pulled in from The Question) and Venom, but the men who got Bruce addicted to Venom were government agents, who were testing out the drug. Bane came later, which was one of the cool things about him… he was born from an already established part of the mythology. Venom almost broke Bruce, so when a man fueled by Venom came to town it was a natural fit that he could do the same.

This was unreadable in digital format, which is the only format I purchase weekly books in. I was extremely disappointed with this issue simply because I didn’t want to keep rotating my laptop left and right like I was trying to read House of Leaves digitally (which would be just as terrible an idea and also shows just how uncharacteristically unoriginal Snyder was with this issue).

I highly doubt that Mark Z. Danielewski’s only half decent book was the first to require the reader to turn it in circles to read it. I’d rather have that then the 100,345 typical fist fight ending that I’d most likely find in Detective Comics these days.

i think that reading it on my laptop was a kind of fun experience. it only added to the crazy feeling that he was trying to deliver by making me twist my head around and read upside down. by the time i was done i felt a little bit unhinged, in a good way.

I think, thehopelessgamer, that you forget this are comics which are first and foremost of the physical form and that digital is pretty much secondary, for now. So when they set out to make this issue they were most likely not thinking about how it would read on a tablet. This comic shines in the format it was meant to be experienced in, and having you experience the book in that manner only adds to the unique immersion which only comics can provide.

I was on holiday and so I’m really behind on my comics. That didn’t stop me from reading this issue of Batman. One word: AMAZING! I have tons more to read but it’s going to be hard to top this as a Pick of the Week.

This book was mind blowing. Scott Snyder keeps raising the bar on this series. I have said it before and I will say it again… single best book out there right now hands down. Scott Snyder’s story telling is unparalleled but lets just for a moment talk about the art in this issue. Holy shit it is good. From the depiction of that one crazy eye to the tattering of batman’s cape, the art did just as much for the story as the internal dialog from batman. great issue, great story, and great mystery surrounding the entire plot line.

I hate that I can’t get my books until friday! Been loving this run on Batman! Actually, I am buying 3 of the bat books currently and been enjoying all three, can’t decide which is my favorite. But if this issue is half as good as this review makes it sound, this one might pull ahead for me.

Yeah, I read Batman digitally on my Android phone. It was a bloody NIGHTMARE to read. I had to tilt my head to the side in order to read it. I couldn’t find a panel-lock button that would lock it into a fixed position or anything.

I was utterly confused when I read this last night. I didn’t have it sitting down and when the panels started flipping, I was pretty irritated. It definitely disturbed the flow. I hear what you’re saying Conor and it’s no knock against the story or art or anything, but digitally, this was tough. It wasn’t until I read this review that I understood it was on purpose.

and here I thought my Ipod touch was BUSTED!! I genuinley thought that they efffed up the page orientation upon transferring it to digital! I’m sure the issue version would’ve been more fun & interactive (spinning the book around!!)
Overall I just keep repeating to my self ” Wait, is this real?” What’s going on in this maze?” Just a cool way to break down the man to defeat the hero.
Here’s to hoping Damian is the cavalry and he comes to the rescue(more father/son bonding)

Best issue yet. I never doubt Scott Snyder. There is always a pay off and this was it and were not even halfway through the arc. It’s all about the writer. The writer makes the character and Snyder knows Batman.

This was simply amazing to read. I give Scott Snyder lots of props for everything he writes lately, but extra, extra props to Greg Capullo. His art almost screamed Frank Miller-style in DKR in this issue. It showcased how gritty this was getting and how Batman is losing control. Kudos all around.

I’m not sure laying out the panels in this way added a single thing to the story. It’s not like it hasn’t been done before and the idea isn’t *that* clever.

Just came across as ever so slightly gimmicky – this was one of the best single issues I’ve ever read. Turning the comic around while reading it didn’t take away from that, but neither did it add to it. Batman’s spiral into madness was illustrated perfectly well by the stellar writing and art, thankyou very much.

I kind of agree. I liked the hell out of this issue and it’ll probably be my POTW, but I’d hesitate before calling it the best of issue of the year already.

Again, I liked it a lot, but if you’ve read Promethea I don’t think the labyrinthine storytelling seems quite as innovative. I tried reading the book backwards — parts of it work that way, but parts of it don’t (maybe that was the point thought?)

Still, I appreciate that using techniques like this in one of the best-selling titles going is pretty brave!

I agree about it feeling gimmicky. The writing itself was incredible and haunting, and this was by far my pick of the week, but the rotating pages were a distraction that took me out of the story more than it pulled me into it. Never mind the fact that reading this on a PC was basically impossible.

when was the last time an A-list, mainstream comic actually engaged the physical object you were holding as a storytelling device? I dunno..a polybag, or a character death/PR blitz is a gimmick, i see this more as a creative story technique.

“I don’t know why Comixology didn’t just rotate the pages at their end!”

@boosebaster If they had “fixed” the digital version so we all didn’t have to rotate, those of us who are on digital would have complained that it was different than what is presented on the page. Granted it didn’t work perfectly (laptops and PCs aren’t as easy to flip around) but I’m very glad that they made it the same as the page. If it was different I would have felt like I was missing out.

@boosebaster @JimAdkins It also would have defeated the whole purpose of the issue and changed the intent of the authors. The fan complaints would not have compared to Snyder and Capullo’s complaints, trust me.

I agree that I wouldn’t have wanted Comixology to change the pages – I just wish Snyder and Capullo hadn’t done it at all. Completely agree that it’s just a gimmick, and sadly for me, it really did detract from the story and the art.

I’m loving this! Someone who was looking to get back into comics was asking me what I was reading and this was the first thing that jumped at me. So much fun! I also love the explanation of why the Talon and Court of Owls did not remove his mask before throwing him in the maze.

It was okay, but the spaced-out narrative from Bruce felt a little cookie-cutter to me. He’s Batman; he should have his wits about him a bit more than he did. He wouldn’t've fell so easily into all those traps. He literally didn’t figure anything out until the end, and even then it’s not like he really did anything special. The rotated/flipped pages were…okay. I don’t see it as any great innovation, though.

I do like Snyder’s Batman. I constantly see it as a 3.5 or 4 star book. Definitely. But I just don’t see it as the elite 5-star effort that most other people seem to think it is. It’s fine, but I don’t think this really competes with great runs of the recent past like Brubaker’s early Cap stuff, or Morrison’s Batman when it was really good, or Uncanny X-Force. Batman’s solid right now, but it feels sort of generic.

I agree that most depictions of Batman would have him more mentally together than what happened here. But that’s what’s great about it. it’s give the character some fallibility. It’s interesting for a change

Very creative. Next issue will be printed with special ink which disappears within 30 seconds after exposure to light. Digital version: the pages slowly dim then are deleted. Deluxe digital version additionally deletes one random file from your device every second. Deluxe print version self ignites.

Great issue, great series. Didn’t have a problem with “spin the comic” – thought it was used well & entirely appropriate (I did read the paper version, though). Coincidentally, I read this right after I’d read an old trade copy of The Cult a friend had lent me, another story where Batman is worn down mentally – as a story hook I think this works really well.

Ooh I loved both The Cult and the Venom storyline. That scene in Venom where Bruce finally comes up from the cave and looks like he lost 80 pounds and has a big shaggy beard was great. And Jason Todd watching Bruce go nuts and kick the shit out of the whole mob in the sewer was awesome in The Cult. I can’t wait to see Bruce (not Batman) kick the crap out of the Talon in the end. The Court of Owls is the best addition to the Bat mythos since Ras Al Ghul was introduced.

I read this issue and didn’t even glance at any of my other books….I need to come up for air.

Even browsing this, still not a big fan. Other artists have shown spiraling with us turning the book in the real world and in the pages with the panels spiraling. That’s the way I’d do it (but I’m no artist), and the pages end with you holding the book up before having to turn it again. I do give the ads some attention (don’t ask me what ad was on the inside cover but I know I glanced it lol) and when we jump back to the “sane” parts the book’s upside down and still disorienting. But that’s just my thoughts.

Great job, Batman team, because you did something really well here and I’m in the minority but I’ve got to say I was bothered by the second set of sideways pages, even when I got what was going on. However, now that the Owls made a move, I can’t wait for Batman to recover and lay some smack down lol

Also, Batman wouldn’t have any food and water in that utility belt? Longer than 8 days may have been necessary then, and would make the search all the more desperate. Good luck!